Dai’s pilgrimage is supported by a group of voluntary shetou groups. The unique shetou culture of Daxi has belief at its core. Groups are formed by area, occupation and personal connections. Today, Daxi has 31 shetou groups that take part in Welcoming the 24th Day of the 6th Lunar Month. They have formed a unique folk belief and local social structure relationship and are inseparable from the festival.
The members of groups are usually busy at work but begin preparations one month ahead of the festival. The generals who were usually stored away are assembled and the older men teach the younger people the steps and how to play, so called “night practice.” The women provide snacks. In the 6th lunar month every year, the entire area is like an arts school with various traditional arts performance being practiced; follow the drum beats and sweat drenched performers can be see; the seeds of learning and future participation in a formation are planted in the watching children, and this is the main reason that formation skills continue to be passed on.
“Night practice” in one month ahead
In the Japanese Colonial Period, people in the same occupation would form groups to perform during the pilgrimage, using their own way to thank the god, and building a close connection between Dai pilgrimage culture and the lives of the people.
Shetou groups originated when a group of miners were guided to a coal seam by Lord Guan in the early Japanese Colonial Period. They formed a group and performed during the pilgrimage to celebrate Lord Guan’s birthday on the 24th Day of the 6th Lunar Month. Later, people in the same occupations in Daxi came together to form shetou groups to take part in the pilgrimage; each had its own features due to the different backgrounds of their members; for example, business people formed the 1919 Daxi Xingan Society, using a large abacus to represent the art troupe; Qingyi Society formed by construction workers, brought out Shuitu Xiantong (construction deity figure); the farmers of Yuemei area formed the Farming Group and brought a sacred ox to take part in the pilgrimage; the Xieyi Society, formed by woodworkers, brought the distinctive Ink Fountain Formation. The groups reflected not only the development of local history and culture, they also brought different social groups together.
Facebook分享
Twitter分享
Line分享
複製網址分享